The Very Best* Beginners Spread

Silaria

I remember starting with the CC spread years ago and it being the only spread I knew about for a very long time.

I read my cards much more frequently now than any time in the past. One of the things I discovered quickly was that the CC was just not appropriate for every question. In fact sometimes I found it actually clouded the issue. Now, this could have been because of my unfamilarity with the cards or simply a nonsence reading - or both.

Finding the 3 card spread helped me in many ways. First it gave me a way to take a quick snapshot of the situation. Secondly I found ways to expand it on my own which increased my confidence - especially after making a pointed effort to cut my ties with my dependence on books for interpretations.
 

firemaiden

aye aye

Guilty as charged.
Half of the fun of the new decks is looking at all the pretty pictures. There are WAY too many beautiful decks out there!

I am finally getting into some readings after, what, 6 months of just fondling my cards. I, beginner, like the "holy search" spread Rachel Pollack decribes in her beautiful illustrated guide to the tarot.
Love
Paula
 

Ravenswing

celtic square

aeonx--

here's the square--


4***2***6

3***1***5

7***8***9

plus a tenth card as advice/summary.

first row can be seen as past, present, future.

second row is where you've been, where you are, where you are headed.

third row is the interaction between you and your environment-- past (7), present (8), and future (9).


the columns give you past, present and future triples to be considered.

any questions?

happy halloween all
raven
 

sparrowspirit

Great thread

This is a very helpful thread. I have been intimidated by the CC since I first started learning tarot. I do smaller spreads, three or five cards. I figure, not much use having all of those cards if I'm only going to miss their meanings, more opportunity to misinterpret. But I am going to print out Ravenswings description. Thanks for simplifying!

Sparrow
 

Talisman

Some three-card spreads

'Lo all,

From the book for the Sakki-Sakki Tarot, "Playing with Symbols" by Monicka Clio Sakki and Carol Anne Buckley, here are some suggested three-card spreads:

Past/Present/Future
Body/Mind/Spirit
Issue/Advice/Outcome
Beginning/Middle/End
Choice "A"/Issue/Choice "B"
Short Term/Situation/Long Term
Feelings/Thoughts/Actions
Wish/Advice/Manifestation
Idea/Action/Outcome
Status/Money/Personal Satisfaction
Trade/Tools/Result
Core of Relationship/Past-Life Influence/This Life's Lesson
Conflict/Reasons for "Yes"/Reasons for "No'
Self/Partner/Family
In One Month/In Two Months/In Three Months
Action "A"/Junction/Action "B"
Learn/Forget/Do
Desire/Compromise/Outcome

~ Talisman
 

skinofthesoul

Talisman,

funny you unearth this thread just when I did a three-card spread out of an urge last night - I like big spreads around ten cards or so, but after the last two intuitive rounds with only one card/two cards (the same from different decks), I realized what sh*tloads I could write about a single card, and how much insight I could gain from it, and it made my head buzz to think I'd do a CC and give that much attention to all ten cards...! It'd give me a headache!

Still, that doesn't mean I won't do a larger spread now and again, I will when I feel like it. It's just that I've come to understand that on my current level, I'm getting very little out of large spreads compared to what's in them. So for now I'll chime right in: three cards are great! I haven't seen anything like the spread I did last night listed here, so I'll add that:

Each card, in my spread, stood for a person. You can cover any sort of relationship triangle with this: a family with mother, father, child; or a triad of lovers with center, older wing, younger wing; or three friends or three co-workers or whoever. You might even want to try three "versions" of yourself: you as a youth, you as an adult, you as an old woman/man (though that might make most sense when you've reached the last stage already). I wanted to focus on the situation/emotional state of each of them, and how they relate to each other or how well they fit together. It was very interesting to try out the three possible pair combinations of cards and see how they complemented each other (or not).

Another possible triplet would be
starting point - way to go - goal.

This one could easily be expanded with some more cards in the middle to represent obstacles, in-between goals or whatever.

Threes rock! :D
skinofthesoul~
 

starrystarrynight

When I want to know about a particular situation, I like to call it a

Before ~ During ~ After

spread. Three-cards are great.
 

crazelion

Ravenswing said:
aeonx--

here's the square--


4***2***6

3***1***5

7***8***9

plus a tenth card as advice/summary.

first row can be seen as past, present, future.

second row is where you've been, where you are, where you are headed.

third row is the interaction between you and your environment-- past (7), present (8), and future (9).


the columns give you past, present and future triples to be considered.

any questions?

happy halloween all
raven

Hot d*mn I think i found Celtic Cross Spread I actually understand. This made sense to me. The regular Celtic Cross spread i did not understand at all. I could not even do it because I would get so confused. Thinking this as expand past, present, future 3 card spread made sense to me.

Ii am printing this off so I can practice with it.

Thanks for post the Celtic Square for those was not undrstanding the Celtic Cross RavenSong.
 

heleneibrahim

Never liked the Celtic Cross either!!!

I always found the Celtic Cross - MESSY!!! Where is the red thread, the logic sequence??? There is none. If there HAD been one, it would have been possible (by now) to memorize it, but there isn't. Gave it up. Too busy to look it up every time, anyway. - So, as my major spread, I have used the Cross and Triangle, which is logic, easy to remember and useful as it covers many enough of the different forces that are working on a matter and shows a possible action or solution in the end. Later developed it to a Double Cross and Triangle Spread for two persons and their relationship.
BUT I TOTALLY AGREE WITH YOU THAT THE THREE CARD SPREAD IS (THE) MOST USEFUL, for beginners and for anyone who whants go get a quick grasp on a situation. Nice idea of yours to put them in different ways - a triangle lay out shows new dimensions that a one-beside-the-other lay out doesn't. Interesting. Will try it.
My shool teacher English had to make a few spins to catch your ideas, but uncovering the meaning, I found that I totally agree: - )

heleneibrahim
 

brenmck

Three-Card Daily

Just wanted to add that the Exercise: 3 Card Daily as a Motto thread started by kilts_knave has been a tremendous help and vehicle for me. It requires connecting the cards into forming a statement - try that and see how they start talking to each other.

~brenmck~